The Forgotten Race of Middle Earth
by Forever-A-Phantom
Summary: Not only does Gandalf 'persuade' a frazzled hobbit to join Thorin's quest for Erebor, but a man and an elf as well. While they realize it takes a very special elf to be willing to join this crew, it takes all but Shinichi awhile to realize just how 'special'... NonHuman!KaitoXShinichi. Writing delays/update statuses can be found on my LiveJournal page.
1. Chapter 1

While the dwarves enjoyed themselves boisterously around Mr. Baggins's table and their leader, one Thorin Oakenshield, had arrived, Shinichi had tucked himself a distance outside the overfilled room, careful not to trip over anything else. Since his arrival with Gandalf the Gray, Wizard with a Special Interest in Hobbits, he'd upset a number of small objects and banged his head a few times on the low ceiling, though he felt better when Gandalf had hit the same chandelier in the foyer of the hobbit hole. When Thorin had arrived, he'd taken issue to a human joining their group, but with persuasion from Gandalf (Shinichi had never been eloquent), he settled down. The young man, who had always had a quiet nature and preferred his surroundings to be so, was now avoiding the chaos that could be heard all over the house from the dwarves, and his perch on a small-for-his-height stool afforded him a detailed view of Bilbo scurrying about the pell-mell while answering the door every so often.

Speaking of which, there was another knock just now.

It wasn't the demanding _rap-rap_of an expected visitor, as the dwarves' had, not at all: it was cautious, and yet loud enough for both Shinichi and the door's owner to hear amidst the dwarfish upheaval. It was as if this new person suspected as much as Shinichi did that poor Mr. Baggins had been tricked into housing guests tonight at all.

Bilbo threw the door open reluctantly to find a figure much taller and leaner than any dwarf.  
"An elf! Finally someone who values cleanliness and manners!"

Shinichi, born and raised in the slums of Bree-town, had few dealings with dwarves and none at all with elves. They were those creatures that one only heard about in old stories, songs, legends of famous battles, and in relation to their highest-quality goods.

This one in particular had a face that was very much like Shinichi's. The main difference was that this person's features were chiselled more finely, as per usual for one of the Fair Folk. He looked almost like an elf-version of Shinichi himself. The only exception to this was his dark, wild, fluffy hair that contrasted Shinichi's relatively neat hair, save for a stubborn bifid cowlick near the back. The eyes were interesting: while Shinichi's were a dark royal blue, the elf's were even darker, bordering indigo.

Also, his clothes and burlap sack of belongings were rugged and man-made, not elven-made.

The elf only had time to tilt his head to one side in an unasked question before the frazzled hobbit continued, ironically not even bothering to introduce himself anymore. "I'm sure you have more experience with dwarves; if you could do anything to manage the rabble, it would be greatly appreciated."

The newcomer smirked, though the emotions behind it were obviously not directed at Mr. Baggins. "Consider it done." He spoke with minimum lip movement.  
Bilbo and Shinichi, who had not been expecting a positive answer to the seemingly impossible task, could only blink a few times as their eyes followed the stranger as he strode into the dining room without a care in the world, found Gandalf sitting in a corner, and said, "Sorry I'm late, Gandalf, I was held up unexpectedly."

Once the elf's presence was noticed, the hubbub died instantly. Gandalf seemed to take more from that statement than anyone else, and answered in kind. "…Where?"

"Northern Bree."

Gandalf relaxed at that.

Thorin, on the other hand, stood to face the intruder, posture screaming aggression.

"Gandalf," the leader of dwarves spoke calmly with partial success, turning just enough that he could see the wizard out of the corner of his eye while scrutinizing the other through narrowed eyes, "Would I be correct in assuming that you also invited this person to join our company?"

The man in grey gave a long suffering sigh. "He's one of the best warriors you could ask for-"

"He's an ELF, for Aulë's sake!"

"He's helped me kill a dragon in the past."

"If I may, Mithrandir," The newcomer, not shaken in the least by Thorin, held up a hand to both his attacker and defender. He spoke lightly, as if he understood completely, and perhaps agreed with, the dwarf.

He solemnly addressed the younger of the two. "Do not judge me by the race I come from. I broke all friendly ties with it long ago."

Thorin continued to eye him warily. "Then what is your interest in this quest? And do not say it is simply that Gandalf asked you to come."

The elf's eyes crinkled slightly, and his face softened. He then appeared much older than he had a few seconds ago. He held a sad, faraway look that went straight through Thorin. He breathed through his nose a few times before addressing the entire group.

"I care nothing for wealth. Like you, I know what it's like to lose everything and everyone you know in a single day of hell. My home is forever unrecoverable; I offer my services in exchange for the satisfaction of doing my utmost to ensure that you may retrieve yours, while you still can, and easing my own Survivor's Guilt."

Even though he spoke as if about the weather, it was hard to say anything to such blunt and soul-bearing honesty. Most of the dwarves, who had no personal issues with Elves, sat in awe. Even their leader seemed reluctantly pacified, having been touched somewhere in his heart by that speech. "Very well, then I accept your services. We'll draw up a contract for you. What is your name?"

Their newest party member relaxed. "Kaito, son of Toichi."

"Those aren't Elvish names," one of the dwarves mumbled.

Kaito smirked, eyes gleaming. "No, no they aren't."


	2. Chapter 2

There was one thing, Shinichi found, that he had in common with the raucous dwarves: he was just as excited about their journey as they were, though he did not express it nearly as much. He'd spent his short life thus far in and around Bree-town and felt that his life had very little meaning up 'til now. He suspected that Gandalf brought him and Bilbo (who had rushed over to meet them at the Green Dragon Inn last minute the morning they left the Shire) along for this purpose, as neither of them were fighters. Shinichi knew street smarts, but nothing as grand as fighting dragons or even orcs. His only weapon was a dagger he'd filched years ago as an afterthought while procuring his meal that day.

He found it ironic and somewhat comical that Bilbo, who'd never stolen in his life, was their 'burglar'. But Shinichi trusted Gandalf, and that was that.

Kaito, on the other hand, was a mystery, as he had expected the elf to be. At the onset of their journey, he'd told them that he generally liked to keep to himself and requested that no one open his belongings without asking him first. To Bilbo, and Shinichi to a lesser degree, this had already been an implied rule. The dwarves agreed amiably enough.

Everyone had asked Gandalf and Kaito to expound on the reference to their killing a dragon together in the past. Kaito had dodged it, merely stating that, yes, they had killed a winged Urulokë together almost five hundred years ago, and that was the first meeting between the elf and wizard. However, this piqued the others' curiosity, especially Shinichi's and Bilbo's.

As was customary for elves, he ate no meat and was knowledgeable on herbs and other wild plants, so he would forage for himself every evening when they made camp. He was also their designated healer. Shinichi was skilled at detailed observation (he'd had to be to keep his skin on him in Bree-town) , and thus had noticed that the elf would take a walk after every meal, without fail, rain or shine, taking longer whenever they were near a town, presumably to get further away. On that note, Kaito also seemed less affected by temperature and weather than even Gandalf; he looked perfectly at home in the torrential downpours that plagued them occasionally. Shinichi asked Gandalf once if all elves were like this, and he had answered yes, although Kaito had a few quirks of his own. The way he said that only made Shinichi more curious, but Gandalf quickly changed the subject when he tried to pursue it.

Shinichi rarely saw Kaito sleep. Most nights, the elf offered to take the first watch. Upon asking Gandalf, he'd been told that elves were able to rest their minds while their bodies were still awake, and thus they needed less sleep. However, when Shinichi was able to observe their fellow quester while asleep, he noticed yet more odd traits. The elf always slept with his hand covering his nose and mouth. Sometimes, if someone else passed by Kaito when he was like this, he would twitch a little, and readjust his hand on his face. Perhaps his sense of smell was strong enough that the proximity of grungy, travel-weary companions kept him awake? It was the only answer Shinichi could come up with, at any rate.

The Bree-town native slowly found that he was becoming and more fascinated as he discovered more about their strange companion. The elf was a puzzle box, with so many pieces that, as Shinichi unearthed more, the bigger the puzzle became. He spent more time watching and analysing Kaito more than anything else these days. Shinichi wondered if it had to do with the fact that this centre of attention was an elf, or if there were other reasons as well. He felt drawn to him as a moth to flame.

Furthermore, Gandalf seemed to know more than he was telling. If Shinichi asked a question about elves in general, the kindly wizard was happy to oblige him. But if he inquired specifically about Kaito, even if it wasn't particularly personal, Gandalf would give a cop-out answer and change the subject. Shinichi could tell that Gandalf knew that he had taken an unusual interest in their mutual elf friend and seemed to discourage it, but only if it had to do with _Kaito_.

One night, his curiosity got the better of him.

He hurried to claim the first watch before anyone else could. Conveniently, Gandalf was gone ("looking ahead", he'd said).

He waited a full two hours to be certain that everyone else was asleep, then he crept over to where the source of his recently acquired obsession had laid his bedding for the night, thankful that the party always took time to clear the space they used of leaves and other unwanted items that come from camping in the forest. As he had come to expect, Kaito's face twitched at Shinichi's approach, and his buried his face further into his hand. The practical side of Shinichi's mind supplied that if he got too close, the elf might wake up, but there was no stopping him now. He crouched to get a better look.

As soon as he did, the sleeping figure tensed and his breathing picked up. Again, Shinichi's mind screamed _get out of there now before he wakes up_, but he only gave the idea just enough thought to register its existence.

This was the closest he'd ever been to the elf. He leaned down to study his face, covered by his hand, but not enough that Shinichi couldn't tell it wasn't somewhat contorted now.

Midnight-blue eyes flew open and a body jerked toward him.

Shinichi was having an extremely hard time registering what was happening around him now. Everything seemed surreal, and his mind was a little hazy.

He was held in an iron grip and there was an icy pain at his neck, right above the collar of his shirt.

Warm blood trickled out of it. Strange, if it was only bleeding that little, why did it hurt more than a cut like that should?

The pain died quickly.

There was a… a mouth there too, but he couldn't tell what exactly it was doing. Just that the feeling of Kaito's lips on that sensitive spot of skin felt _really good_. He blushed at the contact.

He could hear Kaito swallowing just then.

He found himself paralyzed by both the shock of what Kaito was doing (whatever it was) and how it felt. He was sure that he would know if his head was clear, but at the moment he was unable to try to connect any of the scattered pieces of sensory information he had received thus far.

Eventually, the mouth was replaced with a tongue, licking the place that had somehow started bleeding. This felt even better than what had come before.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. When Kaito finally pulled away, a small part of Shinichi wanted more, while the rest was trying to figure out what in the name of all that was holy had happened.

His mind began registering sight again just in time to see Kaito staring at him with red eyes while licking blood off his lips and swallowing.

So that's why the cut on his neck hadn't seemed to bleed much. Kaito had been taking most of it into his mouth.

As though a wave of ice water hit him, his mind came back to full power.

Kaito had _bitten _him and _drunk his blood_.

When it became apparent that his most recent victim wasn't ready to stop staring at him in shock yet (the small amount of venom that had leaked out of his mouth was still at work in the human), Kaito used his full inhuman speed for the first time in weeks to roll up his bed and grab his bags, squashing the feeling of buoyancy and sudden strength that threatened to take over his mood. He hadn't had any blood since the last time they'd been near civilization, east of Bree-town almost two weeks ago, and Shinichi had smelled _really good_(probably _because_ he'd been so hungry), and while it felt wonderful to have in his stomach what it could actually digest, he was now presented with no small problem: he'd been found out.

Well, the mild camaraderie had been fun while it lasted, even if most of his companions had been dwarves (racially, he had no scruples about them, but they usually disliked him since they would think him an elf). He had enjoyed travelling with Gandalf again, as well as getting to know the others.

Too bad young people tended to let their curiosity run away unbridled.

He was just about to start running when a hand attached itself to his wrist. He glanced down.

Shinichi was looking at him full on, not flinching, even though his irises had to be blood-red now from feeding. His sense of smell would also be useless for a minute or two until the blood high went away (it was all his nose wanted to tell him about right now).

"Why are you leaving?" the human asked quietly.

He certainly had not been expecting that question. For the first time since meeting this group, Kaito moved his lips the normal amount as he spoke, for once not bothering to hide his fangs. "You do realize what I just did, right?"

"Yes."

The answer was so casual that Kaito was a little taken aback. Even though Kaito had stopped the flow of venom before it became very much, it had obviously affected his victim's mind. "Then why haven't you woken anyone else yet?"

"Why would I do that?"

This couldn't all be from that little bit of venom, could it? "Because I attacked you…?"

Shinichi, still kneeling on the ground, hesitated then, but still hung onto Kaito's wrist for dear life. "Is…do all elves do this?"

Was this boy really that ignorant of elves? Were the other races in general starting to become this way because elves kept to themselves, or was Shinichi a special case?

He looked away. "...No, I'm not an elf."

It felt strange to say, after so much time. Gandalf had been the last person of importance to discover Kaito's true race, five hundred years ago.

Shinichi's eyes widened at this. "Then what are you? You have pointed ears and everything."

Kaito spoke clinically. "That is because my people were descended from elves. What we are called doesn't matter; you wouldn't have heard of us anyway."

"Please tell me."

Kaito lightly tugged on his captive wrist in annoyance. "Why are you so keen on knowing? Let me go!"

"Why are you leaving?"

"Because I don't want to potentially be chased by thirteen dwarves after my head!" He could have easily freed himself without Shinichi's cooperation, but preferred not to hurt the human.

"I won't tell anyone."

That brought Kaito to a halt. Yes, there was definitely something at work here besides the venom. He stared into Shinichi's eyes, unhindered by the lack of decent lighting. They were somewhat dilated, presumably from the darkness. His face was flushed, which was strange; normally people paled as they lost blood.

He shook the thought away; it wasn't important. "…Why not? Aren't I just some monster to you now?"

Shinichi had the gall to crack a small smile at that. "No, you're someone that Gandalf trusts. I knew he knew more about you than the rest of us. Now I'm glad to know what some of that is." The human actually seemed _happy_ about that.

While he did consider Gandalf a well-meaning person and all, Kaito didn't like how this boy just took everything the wizard said and did as gospel. "…Sometimes Gandalf misplaces his trust."

"I won't believe that without proof."

Kaito slid his free hand down his face as he gave a quiet sigh of longsuffering. There wasn't really anything he could say to that right now.

He might as well stay a little longer, at least tonight. If his victim woke up in the morning having found his right mind again and alerted the others that a blood-sucking creature pretending to be an elf was in their midst, at least Kaito would have a good night's sleep beforehand.

…And he wanted to stay anyway. While he had become long used to living and wandering on his own, being with people sometimes was nice.

Especially if one didn't have to hide so much of himself around one or two of them.

He noticed Shinichi staring at him again. It was slightly unnerving to have someone gaze at him with such intensity when it didn't seem to be caused by fear (since that was why people normally did whenever he was exposed).

Resigned, Kaito gently placed his bags on the ground (there were breakables inside). "Fine, I promise I'll stay, at least until tomorrow. If I choose to leave before you gain your sense back and tell them, I'll let you know first." He didn't know where that second promise had come from. He wasn't accountable to Shinichi or anything. He just…it would be rude to just leave after this happened, right? They'd had a shared experience, even if it wasn't a very good one, and it had completely changed how Kaito felt he should interact with the human. He felt he owed Shinichi now.

The human smiled in relief and nodded, letting go of his hand. "Good night then." As if they'd done nothing but have a little late-night chat, he stood up to leave, but wobbled a little as his knees straightened. Kaito reached out to steady him. "I'm sorry...about all this." He suddenly felt awkward for the first time in centuries.

Shinichi half-shrugged with a soft smile. "That's alright."

'That's _alright_'? How could the human be so..._complacent_?

Said human started to turn away, but stopped short. "May I ask what your race is called?"

Kaito gave in more easily this time. "...The elves named us _Yarencarcar_, meaning 'blood-fangs'. In this tongue, we are called Vampires."

Shinichi's eyes sparkled. "Thank you."

Then he left, but not before Kaito's sense of smell had returned.

He hadn't smelled fear on the human, which was an anomaly in itself. What was worse was that he had smelled _sex pheromones_.

Ah, that's what the other thing affecting Shinichi's mind had been.

Pheromones were very hard to detect, even for his own people. Kaito had to be within a few feet of a person to smell them, and the few times that he had been that close to Shinichi over the month of travelling, it had surely been overpowered by the aromas of hot horse and hot dwarf.

Of course he knew there existed people in this world, hidden like he was, that found themselves attracted to their own sex, how could he not after wandering through Middle Earth as long as he had? But he hadn't expected that he himself would gain that kind of attention from someone like that.

Great, just the kind of complication his life needed.

...What in the world had he done to garner this attention anyway?


	3. Chapter 3

Shinichi had spent quite a while before discovering the truth about the 'elf' in their midst conveniently ignoring a certain strain of thought in his head, but now there was no denying it: he _liked_ Kaito.

Not that he would do anything about it, of course. The guy was centuries old, perhaps even millennia. A twenty-year-old human would be a child in his eyes. And then there was the likely probability that he would never think of a male of any race in the same way.

It was this last part that had plagued Shinichi since puberty. He simply had never been able to see women that way, and even without that, he had a hard time talking to them meaningfully. He'd also been stupid enough to tell his first crush, a boy his age and a very good friend, how he felt, and the boy had panicked and fled, never speaking to him again.

When he'd gone home to his grandfather that night, he hadn't said a word, and hadn't told anyone else about his condition since, even though he'd had another crush or two between then and now.

Shinichi had never been overly concerned with fitting in, but it would certainly have been nice to be normal in this particular regard.

The night Shinichi found out what Kaito really was, he was glad with what had happened. He knew he wasn't knowledgeable of the world outside of Bree, and here he was in the Lone-lands.

While it was generally a good idea to know more about the capabilities of one's allies, that wasn't what this was about.

As it turned out, his watch had only lasted two-and-a-half hours when he left Kaito alone, and Shinichi was wide awake, his mind buzzing with questions bumping into or moving around each other like bees in a crowded hive.

It made him sad that Kaito had expected instant betrayal on Shinichi's part and called himself 'a monster', but he supposed that was what Kaito was used to, which was deplorable. While it was different to be sure, he was still the person who had saved him. And that meant a great deal to someone as too-young-to-die as Shinichi.

He'd been so engrossed in reconciling his previous observations with his new knowledge that he hadn't noticed the complete lack of a wound on his neck until he finally started drooping off and woke Bifur, who had claimed the next watch. He had simply thrown it into the chaotic hive of questions, too tired to ponder anything else for the night.

Throughout the next day, Shinichi had plenty of time to continue deliberating, with the group riding the horses and ponies at the usual walk, with trotting at the flatter places. While Kaito wasn't trying to stay as far away as possible from him, he wasn't letting himself get close enough for conversation, either, though Shinichi sometimes found the other studying him inquisitively. He had no idea what Kaito was looking for, but he optimistically chose to take this as a good sign: even though Kaito didn't want to talk, he wasn't antagonistic either.

That night, Shinichi didn't stop him from getting the first watch as Kaito usually did. After the questers had dinner and music and had settled down for the night, while the young man leaned on a tree a short distance outside the camp circle, taking advantage of the clear night to gaze at the stars (and thinking about Kaito, and maybe secretly hoping that Kaito would talk to him again), he noticed Kaito silently pacing out of the corner of his eye.

This was the longest that Shinichi had ever been awake during one of Kaito's watches, so he didn't know if this was as per usual or not. He decided not when the vampire (whatever that really was) began walking in his direction, then stopped suddenly before getting very far and continued pacing. Shinichi hadn't pinned Kaito as the generally indecisive type.

He pretended not to notice anything and resumed contemplating the heavens.

Speaking of which, the stars really were beautiful out here, away from civilization. Shinichi had always held a certain fascination for them; they were an unreachable mystery (like Kaito, in a way). No one knew what they were made of or how far away they were, only that they were created to be sentinels of light to the world.

"The best thing about stars is that they don't change much."

Shinichi jumped and turned. He hadn't heard Kaito coming at all (which wasn't surprising in hindsight).

Kaito twitched a smile. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to creep up on you."

Shinichi smiled encouragingly. "That's alright."

Kaito came to stand next to him (not too close, but not too far, either) and their attention returned to the brilliant night sky.

"Sometimes I find that the stars are one of the few pieces of life that are familiar to me anymore," Kaito continued softly, "These constellations were here long before even I was born. They make me feel young again. When elves first came into being, one of the first things they saw were the stars, and they have been special to both our peoples ever since."

Shinichi wasn't used to the not-elf being so open about himself. He was still dying to ask a multitude of questions, but refrained out of respect.

Just then, Kaito turned to face him, wearing a wry smile. "I'm surprised you haven't started asking questions yet."

Shinichi looked away. "I didn't want to pry…again."

The smile turned genuine. "I feel that I owe you for last night, so I would like to answer at least a few."

Shinichi blinked at him in surprise. "What makes you think you owe me? I was the one invading your privacy."

Katio turned serious then. "Your life was at risk last night because of me."

"Because of what _I _did."

"That's beside the point."

"No it's not."

Suddenly Kaito laughed quietly. "Do you really not want your questions answered that much?"

That brought Shinichi to a stop. "…I do, but not if you feel like you have to."

"Then we'll say that I'm doing it because I want to."

Shinichi looked at him flatly. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Kaito hesitated, then spoke lowly. "If you kept a dark secret about your nature, then found a set of ears that was friendly toward it, wouldn't you want to get things off your chest?"

Shinichi swallowed, feeling like he'd been hit by a brick in the face. What Kaito said made him desperately want to tell the other his own secret.

But this was in a different category from the part of himself that Shinichi hid from the world. Not to mention it directly had to do with Kaito now.

Finally, he responded, "Yeah… I would."

After a moment's delay, Kaito's lips quirked up. "So, ask away."

Shinichi felt like he'd been given the keys to a palace. He didn't know where to start. Everything came at once in his mind, and Kaito waited patiently while he lined all his inquisitive ducks in a row.

Kaito gestured downward. "It would be best if we sat down."

Once they had settled themselves comfortably in the grass, Shinichi began.

Practical question first. "Why wasn't there a cut on my neck last night after…?"

Kaito took a breath before speaking. He obviously wasn't used to explaining these things. "My saliva has healing properties."

So that's why he had licked it after he was done.

"Why do you have to drink blood?"

"Because we can't digest anything else."

Shinichi blinked. "You eat with us every day." Even if it _was_ vegetarian stuff.

Kaito smirked for a moment. "That's cover-up. I didn't say we couldn't _chew and swallow_ anything else."

It took a few moments for the implications to sink in properly. "So those walks you take after every meal...?"

Kaito chortled drily at the other's expression. "All that rabbit food has to go somewhere, and my stomach refuses to let it go the proper way."

So he emptied his stomach after every meal. "What a pain in the neck that must be."

Kaito grinned, showing fangs and all. "Well, depends on whom you ask, really."

Shinichi blinked. Then it hit him and he deadpanned. "Pun _not_ intended."

"I know, I know, I couldn't help it."

Moving on. "How does an entire race keep its existence hidden?"

Kaito's facetious expression turned somber, his tone reverent.

"Thousands of years ago, during the First Age, when Middle Earth was still newly formed and the elves were not the world-weary creatures you see today, a group of elves became corrupted and greedy, and their concept of perfection became skewed. They tried to obtain this 'perfection'. Using magic that is impossible now that Creation is set in its ways, they changed their bodies to enhance their speed, strength, and senses. But they did not completely understand the magic they had used, and they paid a price. They were cursed by their own magic in many ways, though the most obvious is that their bodies became unable to digest even the simplest foods.

"When they went to the other elves for help and what they had done was found out, the others punished their former compatriots by further cursing them and ostracizing them from civilization completely, preferring to pretend they did not exist when possible. My ancestors were forced to change themselves even more so they were able to thrive in the untamed wilds. Whenever they ran into elves, they were hunted; the elves hated them that much for the blemish they put on their race. Eventually we built our great cities under mountains, but soon the dwarves awakened, and whenever they came near one of our mountains, we would flee before discovery. Since then...we have become very scattered."

Kaito knew that story contain a fatal flaw: he had omitted and even contradicted a great truth. But even after all this time, he wasn't ready to talk about it. It was too personal.

Shinichi blinked, possibly at how abruptly it ended.

Kaito smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was never a good storyteller."

But Shinichi didn't seem to care about that. "Your knowledge of your people goes back very far."

Kaito looked down with a faraway smile, remembering all those hours he used to spend at the library near his house. "Well, I always was interested in lore... but it was always stressed very highly in our education. And we have a special book, mostly unknown to other races, that describes our personal history."

It was the look on Kaito's face that made Shinichi pause. He was torn between resuming his hardly-begun storm of inquiries and keeping this moment intact for as long as possible.

It was a contorted smile that spoke of an age-old sadness, as if whatever the non-elf was thinking about was happy, but that happiness was what made it painful to think of now. It was like, but deeper than, how Shinichi felt whenever he thought of the grandfather who had loved him and raised him, who was now dead and buried.

Shinichi had never seen Kaito as unguarded as he was right now, and the young man placed the sight in a special box at the back of his heart.

It wasn't to last, though. Kaito pulled himself out on his own soon enough.

"Sorry, I was just remembering. Anyway…"

Shinichi didn't dare ask what he'd been thinking about. Kaito obviously wanted it dropped, so Shinichi let it pass.

This also plucked him out from his illusion that had been created tonight: that Kaito trusted him as much as he would have liked. Shinichi felt so small in this person's eyes, this person whose personal history was undoubtedly longer than Shinichi's could ever be. He shook these depressing thoughts away for now.

"How old are you?" He actually feared the answer somewhat.

Something else in Kaito's face changed at that. It was subtle; a small change in the lines around his eyes and mouth, but it made him looked dead-tired. "I was born in Third Age 933."

The current year was Third Age 2941.

Shinichi's eyes threatened to pop out of his skull. "T-Two-thousand years!" It took effort to keep his voice down to avoid waking the others.

The current object of his attention replied very candidly, "Like elves, we cannot die of natural causes."

Shinichi swallowed. He felt like banging his head against a tree until he would never wake again. Up until now, a stubborn part of him prone to wishful thinking had hoped, even after witnessing that bittersweet smile, that maybe he had a chance with Kaito. But now, actually hearing Kaito's age, when Shinichi could clearly see how world-weary and heart-heavy his soul was, he knew there would be nothing between them. Even if, against all odds, the other could be attracted to a human man, his spirit was probably too tired to care about such things anymore. Besides, Shinichi wasn't even a child to the vampire; he was still in the _womb_ by comparison. There would be too much Kaito had experienced that Shinichi would not be able to understand.

"Are you alright?"

The world came back into focus when he heard the concern in Kaito's voice. He glued a smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He hoped he would get over Kaito soon, but he seriously doubted it.

"Okay, one more and then you need to sleep."

Shinichi wanted to switch to a lighter subject. "How else are you different from elves?" Though it didn't seem to work.

Kaito's depressed mood changed without leaving completely when he heard Shinichi's next question. One side of his lips curved upward ever so slightly, giving him a cynical expression. "Too many ways to be explained tonight.

"Elves sleep unlike anyone else: they are able to stay awake while resting their minds and do not sleep much for that reason. We don't sleep much either, but when we do, we are just as oblivious to the world as you are.

"Elves prefer open places, full of light and life. We prefer dark and enclosed places, so we tend to live in or under mountains, like dwarves. We also have better senses and can see much better in darkness, by the way.

"Elves are high-living and high-thinking. Physical comfort is much more important to them than us; we focus more on practicality. And while we have had our fair share of scholars and great thinkers as they have, our animal instincts are much stronger, stronger even than those of Men.

"That is why last night happened how it did. I'd been slowly dying of hunger, I was asleep and woke up to what could be comparable to a fattened calf, and my higher brain function hadn't woken up yet. It was inevitable. I can't even sleep well when surrounded by you people unless I cover my nose."

Shinichi didn't seem to react much to being compared to a cow. Kaito continued without comment.

"If elves are like healers, then we are like parasites. They create; we normally use what others have made. You've probably noticed by now that all of my clothing and gear are Man-made.

"Some have even said that if elves are like angels, then we are like demons."

He knew Shinichi wouldn't like him comparing himself to a monster again, but he felt it was true in many ways as the darker moments of his life all flashed by in quick succession.

Unsurprisingly, Shinichi hardened a little. "That's not true."

Kaito couldn't help but smile sardonically with a gleam of danger in his eyes. "And how would you know anything about it?"

He kept all possible venom and acidity out of the question, but he knew it would still hurt Shinichi. The original half-conscious thought behind it was that it would put the human in his place, perhaps even cure him of the attraction he felt for Kaito. What he didn't expect was the wave of guilt he felt when he saw the other's downcast expression just before Shinichi turned away to hide it.

"…No, you're right. I…still don't actually know you very well, do I?"

From watching the only human in their group for the past few months, Kaito had gathered early on that, like himself, Shinichi wasn't skilled at making friends or trusting people, but even before last night he talked to Kaito more than anyone else when the vampire let him. For all he knew, Gandalf was Shinichi's only true friend, and right now Shinichi was just trying to extend friendship to another lonely soul he'd discovered.

Besides, Kaito hadn't been lying when he said he wanted to talk to Shinichi. He also hadn't planned on trying to hurt him, either.

He _wanted _to have a friend again. It had been so long since he knew anyone he could just sit down with and talk to about whatever was on his mind. For some reason, Gandalf had never quite fit that place in his mind. And while he wasn't there yet with Shinichi either, he knew it would do him a lot of good to work toward that.

Why was he so worried about the human's feelings for him anyway? They would surely die on their own if Kaito ignored them, right? Shinichi wouldn't say anything about the subject unless Kaito inadvertently encouraged him.

All along, Kaito had been thinking that how Shinichi felt about him would get in the way, but why should it? They could deal with that later if they had too.

Even at two thousand years, he could be such a child sometimes.

"Shinichi, I'm sorry."

He heard Shinichi swallow. "For what? You're absolutely right."

"But it doesn't have to be. I'd like us to get to know each other."

Shinichi turned his head at that, trying to squash false hope. "I wouldn't be able to comprehend or relate to very much."

Kaito smiled as if Shinichi was missing something obvious. "I think you don't give yourself enough credit."

"Why me, anyway? I'll be dead within a hundred years. I'm not worth the investment. Why not Gandalf? What about your own people?" Shinichi still refused to lighten up.

"You look at the world as only a young person can. I find it very refreshing."

Kaito might have said more, but was stopped when they both heard his stomach growl.

Angry at his body's timing, Kaito stood and made to leave. "I promise, _this _has nothing to do with it!"

"Wait! Let me help!"

Kaito halted. Great, just…_great_.

"Are you trying to shrink that one hundred years down to fifteen minutes?"

"That's not going to happen."

Kaito very nearly said 'how would you know' again, but managed to stop himself first.

"You're out of your mind!"

Shinichi then had the audacity to laugh quietly. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that."

"Clearly," Kaito hissed. "We're _not_ having a repeat of last night."

"It wouldn't be like that."

"It could only get worse!" Even though he had been caught by surprise last night, he still had managed to reign in most of his instinctual urges.

"You need this."

As if on cue, his stomach went off again.

This must be the first time he was actually arguing with a potential victim against feeding. Had the world suddenly gone insane after last night, or had Shinichi always been like this and hiding it?

…Hey, if Shinichi wanted to risk his life just to keep Kaito around, who was Kaito to deny him?

Okay, now _he _wasn't thinking clearly.

With his stomach pressuring him and his better judgment trying to fight it off, he sulkily gave in. "...Tomorrow then. Your body still needs time to recuperate." And for good measure, he added, "When did you become my mother?"

"Since last night."

Kaito huffed in exasperation, sounding more like a dog than a person, unable to say anything to that. Feeling somewhat ashamed at having been beaten by a human, he skulked to the far side of the camp, metaphorical tail between his legs.

At least he had another meal in sight. That was something to be happy about. And Shinichi did taste good.

…Since when could a human incite such emotional reactions from him anyway?


	4. Chapter 4

Several times over the course of the next day, Kaito reconsidered the deal he had made with Shinichi. He suspected that the boy had the ulterior motive of using this to get closer to Kaito. After all, putting your mouth and tongue on someone's neck was an intimate act, in any culture.

He stopped there. Even though the Man of Bree was very young compared to Kaito, he was an adult in his own right. Kaito shouldn't call him _boy_. It wasn't like Shinichi needed to be reminded constantly that he was the youngest in their group.

Also, the elf lookalike was apprehensive because he couldn't help but feel like he was taking advantage of the other, even though it was his soon-to-be-victim's idea in the first place. But as the sun edged closer to the horizon, he (mainly his stomach) became impatient for a meal.

Vampires usually fed once or twice a day if they weren't recovering from injury (they almost never fell ill). Kaito had fed two nights ago, but he hadn't taken nearly enough to sate himself after going so long without. When he was near a sizable population, he would usually take three to four times as much as he had from Shinichi, and from as many different people.

When Thorin signalled they were to stop, tie up their steeds and make camp for the night, Kaito (awkwardly) pulled aside Shinichi and told him where and when things would take place.

He was proud of his heritage, to be sure, but it was times like these where he wished he could just sit down and enjoy some salted pork with everyone else (those kinds of things _did _smell appetizing, but inhaling too much of the scents made him a little queasy).

With that done, he then took his customary walk through the forest to 'forage for his Elfish diet'. During his solitary travels, he had grown an interest in medicinal herbs, even though his kind didn't use them. Years ago, he had even gone around as a self-professed medicine salesman, and a decent one at that. At Gandalf's request, he had brought his tools and supplies with him, so these pre-supper walks he took every day, while not exactly for the purpose he claimed, were not entire wasted.

As dinner ended, Kaito left for his second 'walk', and the dwarves produced their musical instruments for their nightly playing. Then it was Shinichi's turn to become agitated. He had offered himself to be fed from, against his better judgement. Did being fed from have long term effects? Had the first time altered his mind somehow, making him want more of that incredible feeling? Or was he in love? Or was all of this from a bad case of infatuation? He'd have to find a way to ask later without causing suspicion for his motives (fortunately, most of Shinichi's questions had been answered after Kaito's longer answers last night).

As strangely nervous as Kaito was, he was also excited at the same time. Someone in this world actually sympathized with him, to the point of helping a vampire at his own expense, even if there were probably selfish motives as well.

It was this thought that buoyed Kaito up as he waited for the others to take care of business for the night (only Thorin, Gandalf, and Balin participated, the others usually just looked on).

During this time, he felt the prickle of Gandalf's eye on him. He wouldn't be surprised if the wizard knew that Shinichi had found him out, or that they would be meeting later tonight for clandestine purposes. Kaito held himself airily, remaining outwardly impassive to Gandalf's gaze.

When the sun was finally down and the music had long died, the vampire felt his blood sing with anticipation. He was in his element, the Darkness of Night, and while he wouldn't have the joy of the hunt tonight, something he had dearly missed since they had left Bree-town far behind, he would at least have a meal.

But he kept his levity down as much as he could when his knowing victim arrived at the spot Kaito had told him about earlier. They were situated a little more than a half-mile south of their camp, just to be sure no one would hear in case they made too much noise.

Another question Kaito had deliberated on all day had been how much to let himself go. If he went all the way short of harming Shinichi, it might discourage the human in his attentions towards him.

But that had a good chance of scaring him and hurting him, and Kaito _really _didn't want to lose the friend he had somehow gained.

So he would hold back, and get it over with as quickly as possible, for Shinichi's sake.

This was his decision by the time Kaito could both hear and smell Shinichi coming toward him through the trees.

When he arrived, they took a full minute to stare at each other, wondering how to proceed.

Kaito took an extra moment to marvel at himself. He'd been doing this for two millennia, why did it feel so weird? Because this was someone he actually knew and cared about, whose opinion mattered to him?

He was brought back when his stomach made its emptiness known to all present.

Unexpectedly, that break in the silence made Shinichi laugh quietly, which monumentally eased the tension that had been feeding on the silence without Kaito's knowledge. He cleared his throat.

"As you can imagine, I've never been in this situation, where the victim is willing, so I'm not entirely sure how to go about this..."

To Shinichi, it was strange to see Kaito so unsure of himself. "Just do what you normally do, I guess," he replied with an easy smile.

Kaito sighed inwardly. 'What he normally did' was what he was trying to _avoid_. "Why don't you sit down so you don't get light-headed again?" Shinichi chose a tree and sat down, leaning against it.

"Take your shirt off." At that, Shinichi's face reddened profusely and his heart sped up, but he complied and started on his outer jacket.

Last time, Kaito had gone straight for Shinichi's neck, just above the neckline of his jacket. He'd only done this (or any of what happened that night, really) because he hadn't been completely awake yet and his instincts were more in control than usual. Piercing the neck was dangerous to the victim, since there was much faster bleeding, and generally not done by vampires that actually cared about their victims' wellbeing. Normally, Kaito aimed for the soft spot just above the collarbone, at the base of the neck. As it was, Shinichi's jacket covered that area completely, and it was simply impractical to try to feed through clothing.

It turned out that Shinichi hadn't needed to remove his shirt as well, since it didn't cover the spot, but Kaito let it go to avoid making the human any more uncomfortable.

This was the first time Kaito had seen Shinichi shirtless. While it was perfectly normal for men to tear off their clothes and jump in a river in front of other men to bathe, Shinichi always waited until everyone else was finished. Coincidentally, Kaito always went a good distance upstream for his own privacy, but not for the reason he suspected of Shinichi; the old vampire had many scars on his body and did not want to draw attention.

Shinichi's wiry torso was small, but not too small, and surprisingly like Kaito's, minus the layers and layers of scars. The human did have scars, but nothing that looked too life-threatening. Kaito found himself glad of that fact.

By now, Shinichi smelled too appetizing to delay much longer. Kaito approached him and knelt next to him as quickly as he could without appearing desperate.

"I'll try to get this over with as fast as I can." It took effort to keep his eyes away from Shinichi's neck as he spoke.

The young man seemed to notice Kaito's struggle and smiled softly. "Don't worry about me."

More from loss of control than effect, Kaito found himself placing his arms around Shinichi's bare shoulders and planting his nose in the dip above Shinichi's collarbone, breathing slowly so he could more enjoy the scent and listen to the blood pumping underneath. Now he could acutely feel the heat rising off Shinichi's flushed skin, and he could smell strong sex pheromones again, and he felt a pang of guilt for causing that. "If I don't maintain control of myself, you could die," he mumbled against the other's skin.

Shinichi was having difficulty forming words now, so he didn't bother trying to answer. Kaito's dark blue eyes had slowly turned crimson earlier, and Shinichi found it strangely attractive; he liked what he had seen of Kaito's wild side so far. He could feel Kaito's lips on him, the warmth from Kaito's breath, and his arms clutching around his exposed skin, and that was all that his mind allowed him to focus on. But then it made another small part of his mind break away enough to wonder if he really wanted to help Kaito, or if he was just being selfish and trying to get attention from his love interest.

He wasn't able to answer his own question, because just then he felt two sharp pains where Kaito's mouth was. While the puncture wounds did hurt, everything else felt glorious.

When Kaito felt the warm liquid pool around his mouth, he was hit with a wave of thirst and immediately began sucking to increase the flow. Shinichi tasted just as sweet as last time, which didn't surprise him now, given the human's feelings for him; flavour was affected by personality as well as current emotional state.

Of course, this wasn't going to make it any easier to avoid becoming addicted to Shinichi's blood.

His instincts urged him to pump venom into his prey like he usually did, but Kaito ignored it. The last thing he wanted was for this particular human to have impaired judgement.

Shinichi was having the time of his life, even though the pain from Kaito's fangs didn't go away like last time. He couldn't get enough of the attention Kaito was giving him. He was obsessed and he knew it, but that didn't at all affect his enjoyment. Before he could stop himself, he put his hand behind Kaito's head and tried to press him closer while enjoying the feel of his wild hair for the first time. It was thin, soft and fluffy, almost like a dog's fur.

Kaito wished he had told Shinichi that his kind were very smell- and touch-driven. The sensation of Shinichi's fingers crushing against his skull and carding through his hair only spurred him on. He complied with the unspoken demand, and the feeding frenzy took him briefly. It wasn't until a full minute later that he came back to himself and realized he had already taken more blood than he normally did from a single person at once. Finally he was able to break free, wrenching his fangs out less gently than he had planned. He felt remorse when Shinichi hissed in pain. Kaito turned his head away, pressed it against the tree trunk, and took a few deep breaths of the slightly less Shinichi-infused air to clear his head a little, lest he lose control again, before licking the wound clean until the bleeding stopped.

Shinichi barely suppressed a whine when Kaito pulled away, but he was quickly mesmerized by red eyes, and then even more by the few drops of red blood that still flowed and dripped down Kaito's chin. But the vampire caught him quickly and stood up, turning around to wipe his mouth off. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Kaito standing, Shinichi sitting, catching their breath.

By now, the feeling of butterflies in Shinichi's chest was painful. With his mind now running itself, he blurted between breaths, "Does this affect…my mind, like…how I think and feel…about things?"

Kaito tensed, choosing his words carefully despite his cosy mental state. "Only if I use venom, but there are no long-term effects from it. All it does is partially numb the victim, both physically and emotionally; it makes it easier to feed on someone who is unwilling. You got some accidentally last time, but none just now."

He didn't dare press the issue; he knew what this was ultimately about, and the last thing he wanted was a confession. That possibility made him want to run back to camp that very minute, but it was out of the question to leave Shinichi before he had recovered enough to get back on his own.

Kaito turned around to study Shinichi's condition. The willing blood donor still looked somewhat out of it: his eyes were half-closed, but Kaito could tell that his pupils were dilated, and he was staring at some point above and behind Kaito, breathing heavily, so the vampire sat down next to him again, this time leaning against the tree as well.

When Shinichi's breathing quieted, Kaito sighed. "I'm sorry; I took too much. I should have thought to warn you that we are particularly tactile while feeding. When you moved your hand…well…"

Shinichi seemed to understand what Kaito was getting at. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah. Yeah, I…I didn't plan that…"

"I know; that's alright." Though in fact, it _wasn't_ alright. Shinichi had been in danger again because of that. Kaito knew he should tell Shinichi as much, but...he couldn't. He had this weird feeling when he thought about it, like…loss.

Regardless, he knew now that, despite what they wanted, they shouldn't do this again. Not only did it put Shinichi at risk physically, but emotionally as well. Shinichi was clinging and this was encouraging him. It would be wrong of Kaito to lead him on when he had no intention of returning these feelings.

Just then, Shinichi turned his head to look at Kaito lazily. "So…do you wan' to do this again?"

"…Yeah."

_What?_

"Th' night after tomorrow?"

"…Sure."

…What the _fuck!_?

* * *

After they were sure Shinichi wouldn't have trouble getting up, they walked back in silence. Kaito was glad for this, since he spent the entire time inwardly cursing himself and his big mouth. What the _hell_ had he been thinking when he agreed? _Had _he been thinking at all? Hadn't he just decided they should nip this in the early stage?

But when he had seen Shinichi's face, flushed with blood despite being low on it, eyes lidded with sleepiness (and perhaps something else), mouth open as he breathed on his face, Kaito just…couldn't do it. _Again._

Kaito turned his attention outside himself. Shinichi actually seemed to be rather relaxed. And as he let his thoughts retreat to the back of his mind, Kaito found himself calming down as well. This stillness was the complete opposite of how it had been before the feeding. Now, it was rather… comfortable, not at all awkward.

Besides, it wouldn't hurt to feed from him a couple more times. He was weaker now than he had been in a long time due to his self-imposed fasting. It would be easier to resist the temptation once he was back on his feet.

His common sense kept nudging him about it, that this might lead to more problems down the road, but not enough that the old fossil couldn't ignore it.

They spent the rest of the walk back enjoying the still night around them. Upon reaching camp, Kaito thanked Shinichi and two split up to re-enter it from their separate angles.

Kaito slept better than he had in weeks.


End file.
